Miss Frost Ices The Imp: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 2) (17 page)

The Santa’s Bag was full, but the new inventory could sit for a few minutes longer. I took out my phone, tapped his name on my contacts list and listened to it ring.

“Hey, Jay. What’s up? Don’t tell me you’re calling to cancel tonight.”

“I’m not.”

“Good, because we really need to talk.”

“I might know why. Any chance you want to tell me now?”

He sighed. “I hate to even mention her name, but I got a text from Lark.”

“Snowballs. So did I. That’s why I called you. I wasn’t sure if it was real or another one of the imp’s pranks.”

“Hmm. I guess it’s possible he pranked both of us with it.”

“How do we know for sure?”

“I don’t have a clue. But let’s figure it out over dinner this evening. I’m supposed to be helping the guys wash the truck.”

“And I have new stock to check in. Dinner it is. Howler’s at seven?”

“Sounds good. See you then, beautiful.”

I smiled. “Bye, handsome.”

I hung up, no more sure who the text had come from. How would the imp know about Lark? I went back into the shop. “Kip, the new shipment is here. You want to grab Juniper and have her show you how we check it in and shelve it?”

“You got it.”

As he went to get Juniper from the back of the store, I took his spot behind the register and let my thoughts take over. This Lark thing had me stumped. If the text was real, what on earth could she want?

The question stuck in my head all day. I worked almost until six, trying to catch up with my paperwork and get ahead in anticipation of how distracted I was going to be until this imp was caught. But the Lark question was always there, pestering me like a loose tooth. Or a burnt tongue. It was a nuisance I couldn’t get rid of. Even as I headed up to my apartment to get ready for dinner, it remained answerless.

But standing at my door reminded me that I had something else to consider. The imp. And whether or not my trap had worked.

Opening the door could startle the little creature. Maybe scare it right back out the window. I had to be sly and quiet, and there was only one way to get into my place without making any noise.

I had to use my inherited skill of stealth entering. Or as I liked to call it, the Saint Nick Slide. The magical ability was something I’d gotten from my mom’s side of the family. It worked like this: so long as there was a break in the structure, like where a door closed or a window met the sill, or yes, a chimney, I could enter pretty much any space.

That ability was about to become super handy. All it took was a shimmer of magic and a couple seconds of feeling oddly compressed, followed by an uncomfortable nausea, and there I was, on the inside of my apartment.

I took a moment to breathe through the urge to hurl. How Uncle Kris did that all night long on Christmas Eve I had no earthy clue. It made me feel like I was on the downward part of a really steep roller coaster.

The dizziness cleared, so I tiptoed to the kitchen table and peeked into the box. The sugar didn’t look like it had been touched. I frowned, disappointed, even though Corette had said imps were nocturnal.

Getting out of the house for a few hours for dinner could be a good thing. With that thought as my focus, I changed into jeans and a T-shirt and my now-standard flip-flops. Cute but definitely not the kind of cute I put on for Greyson. Hmm.

I added a little extra eye makeup, a slick of bright gloss and ran a brush through my hair. But then my face didn’t match my outfit. I headed back to my closet and found a floral peasant blouse that was just as comfortable as a tee but a lot prettier. And pulled down off my shoulders, it was borderline sexy.

The jeans and flip-flops stayed, but the look worked. I topped off Spider’s kibble, checked on the sugar in the box again (nothing new), then grabbed my purse and made my way to Howler’s. It was moderately busy, but not so crowded there weren’t seats at the bar. I slid into one since I was early, which was saying something considering I was meeting Cooper.

Bridget, the owner and bartender (and werewolf), greeted me with a nod. She leaned on the bar in front of me and tossed a towel over her shoulder. We’d gotten to know each other by name since the first time I’d come in here and she’d directed me to the supernaturals-only nightclub where I’d met Greyson. “I heard you and my aunt had breakfast this morning.”

Further proof that everyone knew everything in a small town. “We did. I really like Birdie. She’s…I don’t know. Pretty awesome.” I laughed. “You’re very lucky to have her as an aunt.”

Bridget smiled. “I think so too. She loves you, by the way.” Bridget’s eyes narrowed. “Is it true that your father is Jack Frost, the Winter King? And you’re a princess?”

“Yep. Guilty as charged.”

Bridget looked impressed. “Wow, that’s wild.” She shrugged. “Birdie sometimes exaggerates.”

“Not this time. But I don’t get too hung up on the title. The one that means more to me right now is manager of Santa’s Workshop.”

Bridget took the towel off her shoulder and wiped down the bar in front of me. “I totally get it. My father is the alpha of the Georgia Pack. Not that that’s anything like being the Winter King—”

“I don’t know. Sounds pretty impressive.”

“I guess, but you know how it is. When you grow up with that, it’s just status quo.”

“Uh huh. I know what you mean.”

“Anyway, nice to have you in town. What can I get you? You want a menu?”

“Just a drink. I’m meeting someone for dinner, but I’m early.”

“Sure thing. What’s your poison?”

“White wine. That moscato one.”

She grinned. “You like the sweet stuff, huh?”

“It’s a winter elf thing.”

“You got it.” She headed off to get my drink, coming back with a glass that was generously full.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She looked past me toward the entrance and gave a little wave, her face erupting in a huge smile. “Hey, bro. Hi, Sam.”

I twisted my barstool halfway around to look. Cooper had just walked in with two other men in fireman’s uniforms. The one guy I recognized as his boss, the other one must have just been Sam.

Cooper winked at me and started in my direction. I wiggled my fingers at him as I glanced at Bridget. “That’s right, your brothers are the sheriff and the fire chief, right?”

Pride lit her face. “Yep. Hank and Titus Merrow are my brothers. And Sam is my guy. He’s also Hank’s wife’s brother. It’s a little weird, but we’re making it work. Hey, is Cooper your date?”

I didn’t want to go into the whole thing about it not being a date, because it sort of was, so I just nodded.

She grinned. “Coop’s a catch. And for a non-shifter, super hot.”

“He’s a summer elf. Hot is his middle name.”

“Talking about me again?” Cooper put a hand on the back of my barstool and gave me a smolder that would have instantly dissolved most women’s undies. I glanced down to make sure nothing was smoking. It wasn’t. Yet.

“Are you going to introduce me?” I tipped my head toward the chief and Sam standing next to him.

Cooper’s expression said he knew I was changing the subject on purpose. “Chief and Sam, this is Jayne Frost. Chief, you met at the fundraiser a couple months ago, but she lives here now. Jayne, this is my boss, Chief Titus Merrow.”

“Hey,” Sam said. Then he leaned in to kiss Bridget.

Chief Merrow nodded at me. “Nice to see you again, Miss Frost. Or should I say Princess?”

I groaned. “Let me guess. You talked to your aunt today.”

He smiled wryly. “I did. You made quite an impression.”

“Well, so did she.”

His smile faded. “I was happy to hear the current
situation
may be rectified soon.”

Stupid imp. “As soon as it possibly can be. I’m sorry about your fire truck. I’m glad you were able to get it down without too much trouble.”

He nodded. “Me, too. Now if we can get everything else back to normal…”

I held my hands up. “I’m working on it, I swear.”

“Titus, cut her some slack,” Bridget said. “She didn’t do it on purpose.”

A soft light came into the chief’s eyes as he looked at his sister. “I know. Really, if anyone’s to blame, it’s Francine Gresham.”

He glanced at me again. “I didn’t mean to imply the fault was yours. Frankly, I’m happy Francine is moving out of town. She and Roger always seemed to be at odds with what Nocturne Falls was about.” He shook his head. “Enough on that subject. I’ll let you and Cooper get on with your date. Nice to meet you again, Jayne.”

“You too, Chief. And Sam.” Once again, I let the date comment slide. “Cooper, I just need to pay for my wine and we can get a table.”

“It’s on the house,” Bridget said. She shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not every day I meet a princess.”

Cooper and I settled into the last available booth. I sipped my wine while he ordered a beer.

When the server left to get his drink, I opened my menu, but my eyes were on him. “How was your day?”

“Okay.” He looked a little tired, which did nothing to distract from his epic hotness and kind of made me want to offer my lap as a place to lay his head. “The crazy calls keep coming in.”

I was almost afraid to ask. “Like what?”

“Today, the gym at the elementary school was filled with frogs, a hydrant on Broom was oozing lime Jell-O, and the fountain in the center of Main Street park spewed snow all over the place.”

I cringed. Frogs weren’t my favorite creatures. “I heard about the fountain. We had several customers ask if it was a promotion for the store.”

“I wondered about that myself, but there was no permit on file, so I knew it had to be the imp.”

“I really am trying to get that thing back under control.”

“I know.” Then he shrugged. “Keeps the day interesting, I’ll say that much. How was your day? Miss me?”

“Maybe.” Then I batted my lashes at him. “Actually, I was too busy to miss anyone today. Being manager is a lot of work.”

“And I bet you’re amazing at it. How are your folks? They coming to visit any time soon?”

Was he angling to meet my parents or just making small talk? I had no idea. But it reminded me of our college days and how almost meeting my parents then had played into us breaking up. “No definite plans, but I’m sure they’ll make their way here soon enough.”

The server returned with Coop’s beer, then pulled a notepad from her apron. “Y’all ready to order?”

“Not yet,” Cooper said.

“I’ll give you a few more minutes, then.” She put the notepad away and went on to her next table.

He lifted his beer. “Here’s to dinner with my favorite winter elf.”

I smiled at that and clinked my glass against his. “Thanks. It’s nice to see you too.”

We both drank, then I stared at the menu. The words didn’t really register, mostly because of the elephant in the room. I decided to stop ignoring it. “What are we going to do about Lark?”

He sighed and looked up. “That question’s been stuck in my head most of the day.”

“Mine too.”

He put his menu down. “How do you feel about her? Are you mad?”

“Of course I’m mad.” Did he think I wasn’t? “She broke us up, Coop. If not for her, who knows where we’d be right now.”

A brightness filled his gaze. A look that seemed very much like hope to me. He nodded. “But we both agree we’re different people now. We might have broken up anyway.”

“True. But then it would have been on our terms. And based on reality, not lies.” I stabbed my finger against the tabletop. “And let’s not gloss over the fact that she tried to seduce you.”

His lip curled as though the memory was replaying in his head. “Found her in my dorm room bed. No way to misunderstand that.” He drank his beer, then tipped the mouth of the bottle at me. “But you two were friends. Best friends. You have a bigger dog in this hunt.”

“Which is exactly what makes her behavior so awful. I can’t forgive her for that kind of betrayal. Can you?”

His expression went very hard. “She took you away from me, Jay. You know how I feel about that. How I felt about you then. How I feel…now.”